Contents

History

After the British took control of the entire island of Ceylon in
1815 it was divided into three ethnic based administrative
structures: Low Country Sinhalese, Kandyan Sinhalese and Tamil. In
1829 the British established the Colebrook-Cameron Commission to
review the colonial government of Ceylon, including its
administrative structures.[3] The
Commission recommended that the existing three ethnic based
administrations be unified into a single administration divided
into five geographic provinces.[3]
Accordingly on 1 October 1833 five provinces under one
administration came into being:[4][5][6][7]

The number of provinces remained static until September 1988
when, in accordance with the Indo-Lanka Accord, President Jayewardene issued
proclamations enabling the Northern and
Eastern provinces to be one administrative unit administered by one
elected Council, creating the North
Eastern Province.[9] The
proclamations were only meant to be a temporary measure until a
referendum was held in the Eastern Province on a permanent merger
between the two provinces. However, the referendum was never held
and successive Sri Lankan presidents issued proclamations annually
extending the life of the "temporary" entity.[10] The
merger was bitterly opposed by Sri Lankan nationalists. On 14
July 2006, after a long campaign against the merger, the JVP filed three separate petitions with the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka
requesting a separate Provincial Council for the East.[9] On
16 October 2006 the Supreme Court ruled that the proclamations
issued by President Jayewardene were null and void and had no legal
effect.[9] The
North-East Province was formally demerged into the Northern and
Eastern provinces on 1 January 2007.

Sri Lanka currently
has nine provinces, seven of which have had provincial councils
from the start.[2]

Provinces

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Current

All population data are from the most recent census of Sri
Lanka, in 2001. The Northern and Eastern provinces were not fully
covered in this census because of security reasons. Therefore, the
population statistics for these districts are estimates.[11] These
are marked by a * symbol.

The Indo-Lanka Accord also required the merger of the Eastern
and Northern provinces into one administrative unit. The accord
required a referendum
to be held by 31 December 1988 in the Eastern Province to decide
whether the merger should be permanent. Crucially, the accord allowed the
Sri Lankan president to postpone
the referendum at his discretion.[7] On
September 2 and 8 1988 President Jayewardene issued
proclamations enabling the Eastern and
Northern provinces to be one administrative unit administered by
one elected council, creating the North
Eastern Province.[9]
Elections in the newly merged North Eastern Province were held on
19 November 1988. On 1 March 1990, just as the Indian Peace Keeping Force
were preparing to withdraw from Sri Lanka, Annamalai Varatharajah
Perumal, Chief Minister of the
North Eastern Provinces, moved a motion in the North Eastern
Provincial Council declaraing an independentEelam.[14]President
Premadasa reacted to Permual's UDI by dissolving the provincial
council and imposing direct rule on the province. The province was
ruled directly from Colombo
until it was dissolved on 31 December 2006.

The proclamations issued by President Jayewardene in September
1988 merging the Northern and Eastern provinces were only meant to
be a temporary measure until a referendum was held in the Eastern
Province on a permanent merger between the two provinces. However,
the referendum was never held and successive Sri Lankan presidents
issued proclamations annually extending the life of the "temporary"
entity.[15] The
merger was bitterly opposed by Sri Lankan nationalists. The
combined North Eastern Province occupied one third of Sri Lanka.
The thought of the Tamil Tigers
controlling this province, directly or indirectly, alarmed them
greatly. On 14 July 2006, after a long campaign against the merger,
the JVP filed three separate petitions with the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka
requesting a separate Provincial Council for the East.[9] On
16 October 2006 the Supreme Court ruled that the proclamations
issued by President Jayewardene were null and void and had no legal
effect.[9] The
North Eastern Province was formally demerged into the Eastern and
Northern provinces on 1 January 2007.

Elections
for a provincial council for the demerged Eastern Province were
held on 10 May 2008. The Northern Province continues to be governed
from Colombo.